USD faculty take issue with library firings

LINDA VISTA  The summer firing of eight University of San Diego library staff members has roiled the faculty, prompting some to question the university’s governance and its commitment to Catholic principles.

“We got involved in it because eight people were handled in a way that we thought was outrageous,” said the Rev. Ron Pachence, chairman of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. “The faculty of the library was not involved in the reorganization of their unit ... that is a violation of shared governance.”

The university, in a prepared statement, said the dismissals were part of a reorganization “to enhance the library’s ability to provide the best services for USD students and faculty” and that the “reorganization was conducted properly.”

Pachence and other faculty members within the College of Arts and Sciences served on a committee formed over the summer to look into the firings at the library, formally knows as the Helen K. and James S. Copley Library.

A second committee, of the campuswide University Senate, was appointed last week to investigate the situation and report back in October.

“The University Senate charged the ... committee to determine what, if any, principles of shared governance apply to the reorganization of Copley Library,” said Amy Besnoy, chairwoman of the senate.

“Shared governance” is a principle in higher education that holds that faculty have significant responsibility within their areas of expertise on matters such as curriculum, faculty hiring and evaluation, teaching methods, research and aspects of student life that relate to educational matters.

Julie Sullivan, USD’s executive vice president and provost, said Tuesday that the principle does not apply to the layoffs because they involved nontenured service staff, rather than tenured faculty librarians or those on a tenure track.

“There were no current faculty positions impacted by the reorganizations,” Sullivan said. “Only staff positions were affected. Second, faculty will have a more formal role in the new reorganization and on all of the search committees for new faculty.”

All but one of the employees who lost their jobs was age 47 or older, according to a memo prepared by Jerome Lynn Hall, chairman of the executive committee of the faculty group within the College of Arts and Sciences. Four had been with the university for 12 years or more, including one with 27 years of service and one with 35, according to the report.

One of those has been rehired, according to Sullivan and others, and another is under consideration for rehire.

Sullivan said the reorganization, which changed job descriptions and management structure, allows for the hiring of more tenure-track librarians and was necessary as the nature of libraries is changing, including fewer “books and print transactions” and the need to “build electronics resources collections.”

She said: “The reorganization was really to upgrade the skill sets available to serve our faculty and students without a dramatic impact on our budget.”

Some faculty are not having it.

“They said they wished to create the library of the 21st century or the library of the Digital Age,” said Hall, a professor of anthropology. “But does laying off these people accomplish that? They worked well with faculty. They served our scholarly needs, served the community.

“These are smart people. If they need new training, give it to them. If they need a new piece of software, get it.”

Faculty members have scheduled a campus forum on the layoffs for 12:15 p.m. Thursday.

“It’s just not our culture to throw these people out the door ...,” said Pachence. “It’s totally incompatible with what we say we are, a Catholic university that deals with Catholic social justice teachings.”

Sullivan disagreed with that interpretation.

“There is nothing in Catholic principles that presume that a Catholic organization wouldn’t be involved in a reorganization and layoffs,” she said.

And, she said, she and other university leaders share the faculty’s concern for their former colleagues.

She noted that the former employees were granted severance packages and job placement assistance.